Welp, I’ve finally come to the conclusion that even my quietest whistle is too loud for our household. My GHPs are too loud for our neighborhood. I’ve started researching electronic pipes. I searched the archives and didn’t find much.
Does anybody out there have experience with any of them? So far I’ve been able to uncover three brands; Deger, Fagerstrom and Ross (all carried by songsea.com). Are there others out there?
Thoughts and opinions are welcome. Thanks in advance,
Eric
From my experience the Deger is the better of the three you listed. Naill makes one but I know nothing about it.
The Deger is nice because it is the size of a long practice chanter and is weighted and balanced like one so it’s comfortable to hold and play. The Fagerstrom feels small and flimsy and the Ross is kind of wonky with that big box on top.
The Deger has the better tone of the three and has more options in that regard. Also the Deger just runs on a 9-volt so batteries are inexpensive plus they have a pretty long life.
As for price I think Deger is the most expensive but it is also more of an instrument and less of a toy than the others. You can hook your Deger up to a computer too and record Midi files.
Good luck!
Aaron
[ This Message was edited by: AaronMalcomb on 2002-10-25 01:58 ]
[ This Message was edited by: AaronMalcomb on 2002-10-25 01:59 ]
Aaron, my wife had her eyeballs removed in Minot. They put them back in, though…which is a good thing 'cause they’re pretty blue. She was born in Bismark and her Mother was born in Mott. She has still yet to convince me that they have electricity there…or trees.
I’ve listened to sound samples and tend to agree with your assesment on the Deger so far. I didn’t know that Naill made one…gonna have to research that!
Thanks
When did she have that done? I didn’t know we had eye surgery like that available.
We really do have electricity though. In fact California should be jealous of all of the electricity we have. They should be jealous of our running water too. I still haven’t convinced anybody they should be jealous of our sub-zero temperatures. Oh well, some day…
Cheers,
Aaron
I’ve had the Deger chanter for about four years now. It’s been great. The ross is a copy of an older product called the baz-pipe.
It’s not terrible, but the Deger pipe is much better. The Fagerstrom (so far as I know) only reproduces the sound of a practise chanter. If you really must have a set of actual pipes, perhaps a set of Scottish smallpipes in D would do. Most that I’ve heard would have to be amplified to compete with a tin whistle. Spend the extra money and get the Deger chanter. You won’t be disappointed.
Marc
Thanks Aaron and Marc!
Aaron, she had her eye surgery way back around 1970. She was a cute little cross-eyed baby until then. Seriously, the photos I’ve seen of ND are beautiful and green…well, sometimes white.
California is jealous of anybody that’s got more than two AA bateries laying around. I still haven’t figured out what happened to us. As far as water goes, well, we’ve (Norther CA) got plenty…we just have to stop sending it all to Southern CA! We’ve been lobbying off and on for statehood for many years. Maybe someday.
I guess, from the sound clips and testimonials I’ve heard it looks like I’ll save my pennies for a Deger. Someday, I’d really like some smallpipes, but right now, I need something that is absolutely silent. My GHPs are just soooooo incredibly loud. They sat dormant for many years, so I restored them…new canmore bag, blow pipe and valve, synth drone reeds and even a new bag cover. All the reeds are new and stiff…and loud. My dog pees the carpeting and my 2 year old daughter cries every time I try and fire them up.
Thanks again,
Eric
You can break the dog and child in by innundating them with piping recordings until they get used to the sound. Toddlers have a problem with bagpipes because it represents volume competition. Most dogs (except for tiny rats with good press agents) are pretty good about highland pipes. My old priest’s German Sheppard hates uilleann pipes though.
Marc